Mahmoud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, Chairman of the Palestinian Authority, announced recently that the PA will stop paying monthly salaries to the families of “prisoners, martyrs, and the wounded.”
Abbas stated that these payments will now be made through a new entity called the “Palestinian National Institution for Economic Assistance.”
According to Abbas, this institution is an “independent body” managed by a board of trustees – appointed (no surprise here) by Abbas himself – and is allegedly transparent and subject to oversight by international bodies.
This institution will be responsible for raising funds to be transferred to the families of prisoners, martyrs, and the wounded, who until now received money directly from the PA.
Abbas claims that this move is intended to strengthen “Palestine’s” status at the UN and within international institutions as a state. According to him, it serves the “Palestinian” national interest. It is designed to prevent Israel from imposing sanctions on clearinghouse funds – the tax revenues Israel collects on behalf of the PA under the economic annex of the Oslo Accords.
Bypassing Israel’s Tax Withholdings on Pay for Slay
Under the economic annex of the Oslo Accords, Israel collects taxes on behalf of the Palestinian Authority in certain cases, such as imports passing through Israeli ports. These funds are meant to be transferred to the Palestinian Authority, but in recent years, the Israeli government has enacted laws deducting from these funds the amounts the PA pays to the families of terrorists, costing the PA hundreds of millions of dollars annually.
In other words, Abbas is trying to find a way to continue funding the families of “Palestinian” terrorists – securing support among the “Palestinian” public – without having to face the economic and diplomatic consequences.
What Fatah Says in Arabic
Against the backdrop of Hamas supporters attempting to criticize Abu Mazen for the move to halt salary payments to terrorists’ families, Fatah-affiliated channels explain:
تكملت الخبر هي أنه لم ولن يتم المساس في رواتب الشهداء والأسرى حيث تخضع جميع الأسر التي كانت تستفيد من القوانين والتشريعات والنظم السابقة لنفس المعايير المطبقة دون تمييز على جميع الأسر المستفيدة من برامج الحماية والرعاية الاجتماعية
Translation: At the end of the report (regarding the change Abu Mazen implemented concerning the salaries – AA), it is stated that under no circumstances will the salaries of martyrs and prisoners be harmed and that all families who benefited from the previous system will continue to enjoy the same criteria without discrimination under the (new – AA) welfare programs.
In other words, even Fatah supporters admit that this is the same practice under a different guise. The same families will receive the same money, just through a different mechanism.
